How to deal with grievances at work

Nearly every employer has had to deal with a workplace grievance before, but what happens when the complaint is something serious or the employee has decided to formalise it? We’ve answered that very question for you and simplified the steps that you need to take to ensure a smooth and compliant investigation process.

Grievance policy

As a starting base, it’s best practice to have a ‘Grievance Policy’ in place within the business and to make sure your employees are aware of the policy and its content. This ensures that there’s a structured approach for employees as to how to raise a formal grievance and a procedure in place as to how the business will address that grievance.

Investigating a grievance

If there’s a formal grievance raised by an employee within the workplace then there’s an obligation to investigate the grievance. While it may be burdensome, and you may already have your own opinions about the matter, it’s still best to investigate the grievance and be completely satisfied that the allegations cannot be substantiated.

When investigating a grievance, the typical approach is to firstly return to the employee who raised the grievance to further understand their allegations and get any further background information about the matter. From there you may need to interview other employees, review any internal communications such as emails or even review surveillance footage if necessary. Once you have covered all bases, it’s then appropriate to discuss the allegations with the person who has been complained about.

Depending on the nature of the allegations, it may be necessary to give the employee an opportunity to respond in writing first or at the very least provide them an invitation which outlines the nature of the meeting and the allegations which have been raised.

When you conduct the meeting with the employee you’d essentially be bringing the allegations to their attention and if you had received a response in writing to the allegations, further discussing these responses and determining whether there’s any further information they’d like to add.

Depending on the seriousness of the grievance, it may be necessary to suspend the employee while you’re conducting the investigation. If a business deems it necessary to suspend an employee, you need to ensure that the employee is still on full pay while the grievance is being investigated as the allegations haven’t yet been substantiated.

Deciding on an outcome

Once you’ve conducted the investigation and spoken to all of the relevant parties, it’s then time to make a decision as to whether the allegations can be substantiated or not. If multiple allegations have been raised you may find that some are substantiated and some aren’t.

To determine this you’ll consider all of the evidence you have on hand and determine on the balance of probabilities whether or not the allegations are true and can be substantiated. While this may sound like some legal jargon, this essentially means determining whether the employee more likely than not engaged in the conduct.

If you don’t believe on a balance of probabilities that the conduct can be substantiated, then this essentially means you’d communicate this to the employees concerned as such and no disciplinary action would be taken. This may be a difficult conversation to have with the employee who raised the grievance, so it’s important to have further discussions with the employee to see if there’s anything you can do to help them, this could include a mediation process with both the employees to help them rebuild trust and friendship.

If you however do find that the allegations made are true and you have substantiated them, you’ll have to consider what action, if any, you choose to take. This could include a verbal or written warning or even termination in more serious cases. It’s important to keep in mind though that termination can carry significant risk to your business, so you should also consult a professional before proceeding with that process.

Citation HR can help

HR policies are a simple way to ensure your business is well-equipped to handle a number of common workplace issues. Citation HR’s HR software solution, allows you to download a grievance policy and adjust it for your own business. Better yet, if you need support during the grievance process our workplace experts are available 24/7 to give you all the advice you need!